Google Analytics in retrospect and as real benefits, for free
Google has earned its giant position in search engine marketplace through real innovative solutions, and of course, strategic moves all aimed at users’ ultimate convenience. It has been almost customary for Google to bring in some exciting features – initially for a price – then slashing the rate drastically to making it FREE – for all. This sort of repeated move could be seen as first serving the target market with its innovative solutions, and later making it free to give many a business in similar or remotely similar categories a run for their money.
Google Analytics traversed the same path. Launched with the brand name of Urchin Web Analytics for $400 a month, conceived and designed to help webmasters or web owners keep track of their web advertising campaign gripped the market, albeit slowly. Then came a hefty slash, making this service available for $199 a year, and it made many an unwilling mind tempted to the offer. Similar businesses were in for a big shock, and before they could act sensibly, Google made it free for all. Confronted with a killer move from giant like Google, other businesses could only foresee their imminent extinction, to say the least.
Google Analytics became an overnight rage all over. It was precisely because of the free offer, with such an exhilarating range of features and benefits, is hardly to be missed out by anyone in his or her right senses.
Google Analytics allows users to do a whole lot of useful things: from traffic analysis, reconsideration on right keywords, right web design to overall effectiveness of online ad campaign. On micro level, it helps users have incisive insights with regard to the specialty of traffic visiting the web site. Users can have an understanding of what sort of visitors surf their sites, where they come from, and how well they receive the features of their sites, and how bad they react to the lack of preferred features on them.
Phenomenal demand of Google Analytics as an indication of its real worth
This was not surprise that soon after the launch of free Google Analytics, the demand was so vehement that Google had to reconsider the continuity of this offer. After catering to 234,725 individual instances of demand, the Google’s servers began to face unprecedented loads while processing such a huge amount of information.
In the aftermath, users had to bear with the slow service, and further prospective users were deprived of it advantages because Google kept this service on hold for some time on a sorry note. History apart, Google Analytics at the moment is powerful vehicle to incorporate effectiveness in one’s online ad campaign, and arguably, augurs well for the web promotion and search engine ranking.
How you stand to gain from Google Analytics
Google analytics is a wonderful help to channelize your online ad budget in the right direction. It helps you consider the effectiveness of you online ad program, and helps you reconsider the way you go about it as well.
Here is how you can make the most out of this unique assistive offer right away from Google:
- You can come to know what types of visitors come surfing your site. What turns them on, and what turns them off. Importantly, you come to know what features on your site lead to a desired outcome like sales, enquiry, or a registration – and what, in fact, impedes it.
- It can help you see the workability of your key words, and can actually help you go for more rewarding selection of keywords, as and when required.
- Whether you need some sort of changes in your web design is another interesting area to decide on. Changes might be needed in navigability, user friendliness of the site, or readability or better presentation of content to draw still more traffic.
- You can segregate your visitors into geographies, or particular categories. It can help you target your market niches in an informed manner.
- As a matter of fact, quite many things go hand in hand toward driving the traffic to your site like e-newsletters, affiliate programs, referrals, inbound and outbound links, and keywords. Google Analytics can help you get a fair understanding of how each of theses components of Internet marketing per se is contributing their bit.
- Comparisons are other valuable inputs from Google Analytics. You can compare the amount of traffic based on select parameters. Like traffic comparison between any particular time and the same time last day, or month or year. In other words, you can have a cue as to whether traffic at the moment is more or less as compared to the same time the previous day or the previous month.
Some issues around Google Analytics
Some critics raise the question that Google Analytics deals with a lot of business critical data, and it might impact privacy concerns of enterprises. Some other argue that while this will not be a case of misuse of privacy from a company of stature like Google, still it can use in some form or the other to further their business interests. To substantiate their viewpoints they say that while AdWords is closely related to Google Analytics, Google can charge a premium price for AdWords.
Another crucial grey area is the fact that Google has misused its giant position to have an undue advantage over others. Google has virtually swept all the existing companies in this domain, which is used to thrive on in this niche. It might trigger lawsuits.
However, if the matters reach to the courts, verdict can be speculated either as the right sustainable business strategy from Google to stay on the top or the violation of business ethics.
Can the above critiques be answered or rebuffed?
Critics’ claims have to stand the test of contemporary business realities.
Taking the critique of the possibility of a hike in AdWords’ charges on a pragmatic platform, AdWords efficacy is well worth the fee charged and it is primarily meant for corporates whose online ad budget allows them to opt for it – even in the event of premium price. The matter boils down to reaping a good return on the supposedly high investment.
Google Analytics has proved to be real worth for small and mid scale companies who cannot go for web analytics software or paid services, and still wish to go ahead on the path of increasing ad effectiveness.
On Google instances of misusing its leadership position in the unrelated web analytics domain, it can be said that though it threw out many small fishes out of the pound – big fishes still cater to big corporates in commensurate with the scale and scope of their online advertisement needs.
On conclusive note it can be rightly observed that small businesses or vendors can bask in the benefits of Google Analytics to drive their commercial interests further.